May 6, 2010

Oil Spill Questions? Ask PBS’ Need to Know

Image courtesy of PBS

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PBS’ new weekly TV news magazine and website Need To Know is taking your oil spill questions, which reporters will answer during the show’s premiere this Friday, May 7. We here at Mother Jones are especially excited about the premiere, since Need To Know is a co-collaborator over at The Climate Desk. In addition to environmental coverage, the show and site will focus on the economy, health, security, and culture. The tone? Not quite The Daily Show, but considerably more irreverent than the Bill Moyers news programs it’s replacing: The New York Times reports that co-hosts Alison Stewart and Jon Meacham may occasionally indulge in some banter, and comedian Andy Borowitz will close each program with a segment called “Next Week’s News.” Promises Borowitz:

Now, before you start comparing me to Andy Rooney, I should say that I will not be behind a desk, nor will I spend the entire segment talking about my stapler.

Amen.

Submit your oil spill questions here, and look up local air times this Friday here. Then check out the rest of Need To Know‘s site, which currently features stories on the history of the birth control pill, Bollywood’s first gay kiss, and El Paso teens dealing with drug violence, among other topics.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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